Author: Rae Allen

  • Moon in the pond

    I contemplate:
    Moon in the pond.
    Of my old friends,
    How many know the Way?
    – Zengetsu

  • Close your eyes

    “It is only when you are able to fully close your eyes,
    that you will see the world as it is.”

  • Death poetry

    Coming and going, life and death;
    A thousand hamlets, a million houses.
    Dont you get the point?
    Moon is the water, blossom in the sky.

    – Gizan

  • Moon in heaven

    The water flows,
    but back into the ocean;
    The moon sinks,
    but is even in Heaven.

  • Dancing maple leaves

    Inside the zendo
    also dancing evening maple leaves

    – Soen Nakagawa.

  • Apple tree

    “highest branch of the apple tree, was my favourite place to be, I could see them breaking free”
    (Neil Finn)

  • Trees

    Just think of the trees:
    they let the birds perch and fly,
    with no intention to call them when they come
    and no longing for their return when they fly away.
    If people’s hearts can be like the trees,
    they will not be off the Way.

    – Langya

  • Ulcers

    When you’re deluded,
    every statement is an ulcer;
    when you’re enlightened,
    every word is wisdom.

    – Zhiqu

  • Method as a silvery stream

    Be soft in your practice.
    Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall.
    Follow the stream, have faith in its course.
    It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there.
    It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices.
    Just follow it.
    Never let it out of your sight.
    It will take you.

    – Sheng-yen.